Cuomo proposes $136.5 billion budget for 2013-14

Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed a $136.5 billion state budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year during the Executive Budget and Management Plan address held in the Hart Theater at The Egg in Albany Tuesday. (Mike McMahon / The Record)

ALBANY -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed a $142.6 billion budget Tuesday which includes $6.1 billion in extra federal funds for Hurricane Sandy relief and the president's health programs, along with squeezing $403 million more from tax and fee collections.

Cuomo said the taxes and fees are not new and include extending a $236 million a year utility tax and collecting an $80 surcharge on plea bargained traffic tickets that will cost drivers $16 million annually. Cuomo also wants to suspend the driver's licenses of people who owe taxes, generating another $26 million.

At the same time, Cuomo called for extending $420 million a year in tax breaks given to investors and companies that bring movie or TV productions to New York. He also proposed letting anyone selling Lottery tickets also have a Quick-Draw game, generating $24 million in new revenues.

Not counting what Cuomo called the $6.1 billion in "extraordinary federal aid" for Sandy and Medicaid spending under the new Affordable Healthcare Act, the new budget totals $136.5 billion, a 2 percent increase over the current budget totaling $133.9 billion.

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The extra $6 billion will mostly be funneled through Albany to benefit local governments, business and individuals caught up in Hurricane Sandy, state Budget Director Bob Megna said. Megna said the new budget contains no one shots and said plans to sweep millions out of State Insurance Fund reserves does not count.

The new budget is supposed to be in place by April 1, the start of the state's fiscal year. Legislators say they expect to finish passing a spending plan by March 21 because of the Easter-Passover religious holidays.

The 2013-14 budget plan is the third Cuomo has proposed since taking office and was notable for having few surprises and little of the drama that Cuomo has tried to bring to state government since taking office in 2011.

"Two consecutive fiscally responsible budgets have drastically reduced the deficit we face in this fiscal year and those we will face in years to come," Cuomo said. "As a result, we are able to make critical investments to build a world-class education system, support job creating projects in all corners of the state, provide assistance to local governments, and rebuild communities that were hit hard by Superstorm Sandy."

In many ways the budget plans sticks with the status quo, with no new bid to rein in Medicaid spending that now totals about $1 billion per week in New York state. Also absent are any big cuts or changes in laws that would anger labor unions. It also does not call for any significant new local government mandate relief, though it does propose letting governments opt to for installment type payments into the pension system rather that face bills that can change year to year.

Early reviews from special interest groups were positive, with a few noticeable exceptions.

CSEA, the state's largest public employees labor union, objected to the "flat budget" that calls for no growth in state agency spending and a shrinking state worker job force. Also registering an objection was NYSCOPBA, the union representing DOCCS prison guards, since the Cuomo plans calls for closing under-populated prisons in Manhattan and Beacon.

"We commend the governor for his commitment to funding public education with a nearly $900 million increase at a time when the economy continues to under perform," said the state School Boards Association. "Equally important, we welcome the governor's proposal to relieve school districts from volatile fluctuations in budget-busting pension costs."

The presentation noted that state aid to schools will rise even as overall student enrollment declines. The budget said that New York spends more than any other state on schools, about $18,618 per pupil on average, 76 percent above the national average.

"Only 74 percent of our students graduate from high school and only 35 percent are college or career ready," the budget briefing book handed out to reporters noted.

The budget also included Cuomo's call for hiking the minimum wage, though Megna acknowledged under questioning that changes in the wage law will have a negligible impact on the budget plan.